How to Take Good Care of Your Dental Implants

You’ve lost one or more teeth due to poor oral hygiene. Since you’ve gotten them replaced with dental implants in Pleasant Grove, you want to turn over a new leaf and take extra good care of them. After all, you don’t want to lose your tooth replacements in the same way you lost your natural teeth! Follow this guide from your dentist on how to properly take care of your dental implants.

How to Take Care of Your Dental Implants

Caring for your dental implants is actually pretty similar to taking care of your natural teeth. You need to brush and floss them every day, making sure to clean all sides of the implant restoration. This is especially important after meals. If you don’t clean after eating, plaque could build up and cause an infection in the gums around your implant. This could ultimately lead to implant failure, especially if your implant is less than a year old.

The supplies you’ll need to keep your dental implant clean include:

• Toothbrush with a small head and soft bristles
• Fluoridated toothpaste
• Floss
• Interdental brush
• Antibacterial mouthwash to combat infection

In addition to all of this, it’s important to visit your dentist in Pleasant Grove at least once every six months. This way you can get a professional cleaning of your implant. Your dentist can also make sure everything around your implant is going smoothly and there are no signs of infection or any other problem.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Care for Your Implants

If you go without daily care for your implant, problems can arise, the biggest one being infection. The earliest sign that something is wrong is when there is oral bleeding, also known as mucositis. If this is caught early enough, it can usually be treated, and symptoms can be reversed with increased oral hygiene and possibly a round of antibiotics.

However, if you don’t see your dentist soon enough, mucositis can progress to a form of gum disease called peri-implantitis. This is when bone loss below the gumline has begun to occur. Your gums may start to recede in the area, and any remaining teeth may be at risk for becoming loose and falling out.

This is why it’s important to take really good care of your dental implants. Simply follow the steps above, especially visiting your dentist regularly, can go a long way in making sure your dental implant lasts a long time.

About the Practice

At Bear Creek Family Dentistry, we offer a wide variety of dental services across the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. We have specialists in the placement and care of dental implants. If you are interested in getting a dental implant, or you want more advice on how to take care of it, contact our Buckner Blvd. location by visiting our website or calling (214) 381-3800.